Sunday, November 17, 2013

Individuality and Personality of the Human Being:

As Chelsea pointed out in her post, this article
was difficult to get through. I think this is because we now can read article
like this with new lens. Lens we have honed with the tools we have gathered in
reading other pieces that focused on aspects like the rules and culture of
power, safe spaces and privilege. We will never see the world the same ever
again. As we have found out in reading this article, that is both a blessing
and a curse. A curse because our antennas are now up and receptive much more
clearly to what is really going on around us and so we can no longer ignore it without
feeling something about it first. A blessing for the same reason because now we
can do something about it! In this article we learn about teachers who have
done just that in their classrooms with children who have Down syndrome. Chelsea
talks about three such students; Lee, Isaac and John. I will take it a step
farther by comparing these stories to the theories of Bilken, my man Vygotsky
and the super cool Dewey.

The story of Lee illustrates how we automatically stereotype
those students who simply look different. Lee’s teacher points this out when he
is singled out saying “anybody who knows Lee knows he’s gifted in how he solves
problems, cares about others, reads, loves math. So I guess what I’m arguing is
that if you did pick Lee out, you wouldn’t be seeing Lee. It’s not Lee you are
picking out. It’s your stereotype, your mind-set. It’s you and it has nothing
to do with Lee” (pg. 84). “The challenge is to erase negative attitudes about people
with developmental disabilities, get rid of the stereotypes and break the
barriers for people with disabilities” (pg. 73) says Kingsley.

We can do this by changing the rules and codes of
power that Delpit speaks of and Bilken points out because it is they that sort
everyone out into compartments they can label and it is they who controls where
they are all placed. I agree with Kozol when he says that if we don’t, we end
up paying a tremendous intellectual, emotional, spiritual and economic cost”
(pg. 73). “Society is hurt when schools act as cultural sorting machines justifying
a competitive ethic that marginalizes certain students that legitimize
discrimination and devaluation on the basis of the dominant society’s
preferences in matters of ability, gender, ethnicity and race and that endorse
an elaborate process of sorting by perceived ability and behaviour” (pg. 73).

This perceived ability and behaviour can also be
seen in Isaac’s story. Isaac’s teacher Shayne saw early on how
he understood lessons in his own way. She didn’t see his movements and
outbursts as behavioural disobedience but instead saw it as his flair for the
dramatic because he enjoyed the “drama of life.” As Chelsea also points out “the
presumed defectiveness exists not as an intrinsic commodity of the child who
thoughts fail to fit within the perceived static border of normality. Rather
the idea of defect emerges from culturally devalued sets of relationships
that that child has with his or her surroundings” (pg. 82). Vygotsky would
agree as he believed that children constructed their knowledge by having
relationships with others and then learning to understand them through their
engagements.

When Isaac is tested with blocks and spoons and
doesn’t follow directions to a tee, the evaluator, who doesn’t know him at all,
misreads his actions. “He separated the blocks from the spoons and tasted each
spoon before throwing it aside. He was not even given credit by the psychologist,
who noted that Isaac had not conformed to the specific directions of the test
item and so he didn’t even get credit for it because he didn’t do it right but
he clearly knew which was the block, which was the spoon and he followed
directions in an organizing sense” (pg. 84). Shayne saw this incompetence as a perception
ascribed to a child by others who misunderstood the meaning of the child’s
performance” (pg. 83). As Kohn points out, the student isn’t going to learn
from you if you don’t respect what they have to say or how they handle learning
themselves.

As Shayne points out “the notion of
Down syndrome often obscures out ability to recognize the child as a child”. John
Mcgough knew this first hand when he lived in North Hollywood where he did not
know what it was like to be “accepted for what he is, not what he isn’t”. When
he moved with his family to Mendocino, John was able to really throw himself
into the community because they welcomed him with open arms and didn’t treat
him as someone who was lacking abilities of any kind and instead were able to “see
past his chromosomal anomaly to his humanity”. As one of his siblings pointed
out “here he is safe-what he calls a safe space and he can concentrate on what
he can do instead of being shown or being told what he can’t do” (all pg. 86) August
touches upon this as well, cited how in created a safe space for students, they
are able to feel more comfortable in their skin so that they can focus on
learning.

Dewey too mentions a safe space in
the way of a community, which is what Mendocino is to John. Most importantly
how a democratic community can help value individuality. In the realization of
human reciprocity we can see democracy as “more than a form of government it is
primarily a mode of associate living, of conjoint communicated experience”,
which can also be seen in Shayne teaching in an inclusive classroom with Isaac
and other Down syndrome students. Just as Shayne too points out how the
students learn from one another, Dewey took notices “democracy as a way of life
in which community both establishes and is derived from each individual’s
recognition of the value of every other individual.” This is the most important
part to remember because “democracy can only occur when no person’s voice is
deterministically silenced” (pg. 72).

In Chelsea’s blog, she address key
points in this article including why students with down syndrome should be
place in inclusive classes because they learn from one another, what it means
when we accept people for who they are instead of who they aren't and how
common traits in all of us help us to relate to other's who are different than
us. I posted a YouTube video below called We’re More Alike Than Different. I
think it shows that is certainly true of people with Down syndrome, other
learning disabilities, ablebodyiness and any other aspect that makes them
different that the so called “norm” (up, there’s that word I so despise again).
Shanye has been teaching that way for years. Kliewer is bringing it to our
attention here. Now it’s our job to take our lens out and go make the necessary
changes to show why schools should constitute inclusive classrooms because the “dialogic
of democracy is ultimately a set of values based upon respect, humility and
creative listening” (pg. 73).

Question For Class:

I really appreciated how this article compared the inclusive
classroom to the fundamental framework of a democracy. The question left is how
a democratic country, which is based on accepting one and all and treating
everyone the same has turned into a place of segregation, privilege, labels and
opportunities to point out what is different. How can we fix this and make
America what is was intended to be all along-a place for all?

3 comments:

I know I must sound like a broken record, but the effort you put into these posts on a week to week basis is astounding and it really shows. I remembered reading the part with the evaluator failing the student because he didn't follow the exact directions. In this case I get frustrated because if a student is learning in his or her own way than what is the harm? The idea of teaching is to help a student learn in their own way not always teaching them how to learn.

I loved your blog post this week! My favorite part was the picture of the little girl that says "My teacher told my mom that I would never be able to follow directions or follow a routine. My mommy got me a new teacher. That fixed that!" I love that picture! Such an inspiration too! Great post!

About Me

I live in New England where we get all four seasons and where the colours change throughout the year!

I love all of the arts; music, dance, theatre, paintings, photography & writing! I love to read books, teach and learn; ancora imparo (Latin for I am still learning)! I love to watch films and listen to music most of all. I am obsessed with colour and music is my life! I love kid things like watching cartoons and the Disney Channel! I have been an Anglophile since I was little! I love walking while taking in the nature around us! I am a tree hugger quite literally! I love Story People, Jane Austen and Young Adult Books. I love New York City and Lighthouses. My hobbies are singing, writing, reading, walking, collaging, cake decorating, and just simply creating.

I am currently a full-time student in college studying Secondary English Education. I want to teach English literature and writing to high school aged young adults while incorporating all of the arts into my lessons because they are where students can create for themselves. I worry as the art seem to be disappearing rapidly from the curriculum. I also work part time!